Capillary Electrophoresis (CE)

Akin to HPLC, electrophoresis is another emerging technology chaperoning the diagnostic
industry. Conventionally, electrophoresis has been utilized for years in the field
of research for analysis of genetic material as well as proteins. In the field of
diagnostics, this technology has been exploited for analysis of various proteins
from blood, serum as well as urine.

Principle of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE)

This technique involves separation of charged molecules from a mixture on the basis
of their electrophoretic mobility on a stationary phase in the presence of buffer
of definite pH and electric current. The pre-treated sample mixture is loaded in
to the stationary phase, wherein under the influence of electric current, the components
in the mixture migrate and are detected by a detector in the end. Conventional electrophoresis
can be labor intensive, involving manual setting up of the gel, followed by sample
pre-treatment and loading with staining in the end for viewing and analysis.

Capillary electrophoresis is a technology which involves use of thin capillaries
filled with stationary phase for electrophoresis. The dimension of the capillary
is designed in a way to maximize the surface is to volume ratio and minimize heating
due to continuous use of electric current. The separation occurs on the basis of
size as well as charge, and hence is sensitive enough to differentiate between small
molecules as well.

In diagnostics, CE is widely being used for electrophoretic analysis of blood, serum
as well in certain cases urine. Electrophoresis in blood is generally done for hemoglobinopathy
analysis, while in serum it aids in diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy, plasma cell
neoplasm, liver cirrhosis, etc. The automated analyzers are designed to perform
sample pre-treatment as well as analysis, post which the output is generated in
the form of an electrophoretogram. The peaks of the separated analytes are quantified
with the aid of software programs, which eases reporting.

CAPILLARYS 2 system from SEBIA is present in our laboratory floor and is utilized
for both hemoglobin as well as serum protein electrophoresis. Many rare hemoglobin
disorders including alpha chain variants, have been reported with the aid of CE.